McCormack Upgrade reviews

Steve told me he will not be offering revisions for the new amps. Understandable since McCormack's now owned by C-J, but Steve also told me the new amps already incorporate parts comparable to his B revisions so his revisions aren't quite as necessary either. I've got a DNA-0.5 Rev. A and it ain't going anywhere any time soon.

As for David's situation, it's not like the DNA-2DLX is a slouch of an amp and if there are other aspects of your system that are more limiting I'd start there and blow out the DNA-2 later(which I would definitely do). It all depends on where you perceive the weakest link in your system to be, but the Revisions are expensive and you need to assess what else you could do in your system with that money. Best of luck.

By the way, anyone know the difference between a DNA-2 Rev. A and a DNA-2LAE?

Tim

I'm confused.

If Bundus is right about Deluxe models already being at level B, why would they list prices for doing revisions C and B to a Deluxe amp? Based on all the great things people have to say about Steve McCormack, I doubt he would offer revision levels that were not improvements.

David; you should call Steve at www.smcaudio.com and get the "skinny" directly from him. In my talks with Steve, he indicated that the Rev. B would be an improvement over the DLX, and that he rarely gets requests to do Rev. C. The DNA2 is a big heavy amp and shipping cost is high, in addition to risking damage to the amp, so it really wopuldn't be worth it to me to send it in just for Rev. C. I think Rev. C is sort of a building block for the higher revisions.

2nd, I agree with Tim (above) in that the DNA2DLX is already an excellent amp and that if you have weaker links in your system, maybe that's where you should put your money. Cheers. Craig

Definately a significant upgrade in sound from dlx to Rev B on my DNA 0.5

I would like to add a few comments...

1) While I certainly appreciate Bob B's input, he is incorrect about the relationship between my "Revision B" and the earlier "Deluxe" upgrade. In fact, there is no relation whatever. I originally developed the Deluxe parts upgrade package for the DNA-1, back around '92 or '93. All current SMc Audio upgrades (A, B, & C) are based on circuit revisions to improve the fundamental performance of the DNA circuitry. Broadly speaking, Rev C includes ONLY the core circuit upgrades. Rev B builds on Rev C with an extensive parts and wiring upgrade, considerably beyond the original Deluxe package. Revision A is a complete rebuild of the entire amplifier, and the "Gold" level options were added after the original development of Rev A, and are available separately.

2) Balanced inputs and monoblock conversion are available options for all DNA amps. The techniques I now use for balancing and phase-splitting are much more sophisticated than those used in the original amps.

3) Different levels of revision (along with various options)exist for people with budget constraints and/or special needs. There is a clear progression of performance from Rev C, to B, to A, to "Gold." Each individual gets to decide what level makes the most sense for them, but there should be no confusion about the fact that the highest performance does cost the most.

4) The majority of my upgrade customers have chosen Revision A, usually with some mix of "Gold" level options. Revision B has certainly been popular, and the owners have been very pleased with the result - so much so, in fact, that several have opted to have their Rev B amp upgraded to Rev A.

5) As others have pointed-out, the original amps "are no slouch," and many people will be perfectly well-served by them. The upgrades exist for those who basically like my designs, but are looking for even higher levels of performance. The upgrades offer very high performance, indeed.

All of this is spelled-out pretty well on my website at www.SMcAudio.com Anyone who would like to discuss these issues in greater depth is welcome to call me at 760-732-0352, M-F, 9-6 PST (California).

Best regards,

Steve McCormack, designer
McCormack Audio
SMcAudio